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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. ground — crushed
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. lean — to bend
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lean — thin
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. spell — letters
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. ground — a position
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. degree — temperature
  19. sharp — clever
  20. spell — magic
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. net — in sport
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com